Peoria Heights gathering draws attentive, hungry crowd of all ages

PEORIA HEIGHTS — Dark clouds and sporadic rain Friday night did not deter dozens from enjoying the sounds of the ninth annual Tower Park Music Festival.

Held at the foot of the Peoria Heights Tower, the event featured the standard sights of a festival: Food, beer, people of all ages. The difference between it and other area festivals was its focus on the music.

All the food vendors and all the tents with information and prizes surrounded the area where the musicians played. The Roundstone Buskers, a folksy trio featuring a violin, a guitar and a series of drums, performed in front of dozens of onlookers who were either sitting and enjoying the music or walking and perusing the food tents.

Blake Begner, 15, and Riley Gregory, 15, both of Peoria Heights, were scanning the crowd. The two Peoria Heights High School football players were looking for people to buy discount cards to raise money for their team while the music played, often talking to those who had sat down to eat.

“We’ll usually come here for the food,” Begner said. “But it’s a fun thing to have, especially while you’re growing up here.”

“There’s always a lot of different people here, a lot of people of different ages. The whole community shows up,” Gregory said. “Plus the music is always pretty good.”

As the Roundstone Buskers continued their show, Heath Thornton of Peoria Heights was removing his guitar from the pavilion on which he had just played. His band Heavy Shake had just finished their set before the Buskers.

“For such a small community, it’s nice they put on something like this,” Thornton said. “It’s great for local bands like us.”

Thornton walked through the festival, talking to passersby and supporters. His trio played “good old rock ’n’ roll,” according to Thornton. Their cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” got the older visitors excited, bringing back memories of the mop-topped quartet. For Thornton, that’s something he really appreciated.

“The diversity in the crowd definitely helps expose people to our music. These are people you wouldn’t normally get playing in a bar,” Thornton said. “You got to get your music to reach a bigger audience, and this festival helps us.”

If you go

What: Ninth annual Tower Park Music Festival.

Where: Peoria Heights Tower Park, 4901 N. Prospect Road.

When: 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday.

Music: Robin Crowe Band will perform at 3 p.m.; The Midnight Special at 5 p.m.; Celtricity featuring Barry Cloyd at 7 p.m.; and Drivetrain featuring Nick Boettcher at 9.m.

Zach Berg can be reached at zberg@pjstar.com or 686-3257. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyBerg.